Charles h



UNITED STATES PATENT EEicE.'

CHARLES H. PEARSALL, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

SHOE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 401,585, dated April16, 1.889. Application filed November 14, 1838. Serial No. 290,784. (Nomodel.)

T0 (6 whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES H. PEARSALL, a resident of Brooklyn, Kingscounty, New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inShoes, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide a side-button shoe into whichthe wearer may place his foot with ease.

The invention consists in the details of improvement and thecombinations that are more fully hereinafter set forth.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ofthis specification, in which- Figure 1 is a side view of my improvedshoe. Fig. 2 is a face view of the under side thereof. Fig. 3 is a sideview of the lower part of the shoe unbuttoned and the sides thrown opento permit the entry of the foot; and Fig. 4 is a cross-section on theline 0 c, Fig. 3.

In the accompanying drawings, the letter A represents the vamp or lowerpart of a shoe, to which the upperB is secured in any desired manner.The upper B is separated on one side about on a vertical line from itsupper edge to the foxing a above the shank of the shoe, thereby formingtwo flaps, 19 (Z, one of which flaps-say d-folds over the flap-say bwhenthe shoe is closed. One of these flaps-say the flap Z --carries a row ofbuttons, e, while the other flap-say cZ-is provided with a correspondingrow of horizontal button holes to receive said buttons. From the abovedescription it will be seen that this shoe has an opening only on itsside, instead of an opening being made in front from its upperedge downto the lower part of the shoe and along the instep, as in ordinaryshoes. The above-described form of shoeis called a sidebutton shoe. Theback flap, 6, is secured to the counter of the shoe, while the frontflap, d, is secured to the foxing or vamp, as shown. Both flaps havetheir lower edges disconnected from the body of the shoe quite adistance from their overlapping vertical edges, as shown in Fig. 3, sothat they can be freely folded apart, permitting the foot to readilyenter the shoe.

Where a flap similar to the flap l) is secured to the foXing a along theentire lower edge of said flap and at its lower corner, it is almostimpossible for a person to place his foot in the shoe. This is theobjection to side-button shoes as heretofore made.

By my improved flaps the side of the shoe is opened widely, so that thedifficulties heretofore experienced in placing the foot in the shoe areovercome.

When the shoe is upon the foot, the flap d is folded on the flap b andthe buttons are passed through thebutton-holes, as in ordinarybuttoning. W hen in this position, the two flaps are held closed and theshoe will appear like an ordinary side-button shoe.

I11 order to hold the flap b securely to the foxing of the shoe,I placea button, 1', upon the foxing a, as shown in Fig. 3, and I provide avertical button-hole,j, in the flap b, that is adapted to receive thebutton 11. When the button t' is passed through the hole j, the flap I)will be removably connected at its lower edge to the foXing of the shoe.By making the buttoirholej vertical the flap E2 may have movement on thebutton 1', so that the shoe may spread or contract to accommodate a wideor narrow foot. The lower button-hole, f, on the flap cZ may also engagethe button 1' to hold the flap d at its lower edge. It is evident,however, that the button a could be placed upon the flap 1) near itslower edge to enter a button-hole, f, in the flap (Z. NVith thisconstruction I am enabled to produce what I term an imitationover-gaiter shoe. This may be done by running the upper B over thefoXing, as shown in Fig. 1, when the appearance of a shoe having anover-gaiter upon it will be given. When this imitation over-gaiter isused, and otherwise when desired, I place a strap, D, beneath the shankZ of the shoe, securing it at one end, as at a to one side of the shoe,and passing the opposite end through a buckle, m, that I place on theopposite side of the shoe. By drawing up the strap the side opening ofthe shoe will be made larger and by loosening the strap the opening willbe contracted, thereby accommodating the shoe to feet of differentwidths.

I prefer to make the upper edge of the foxing a at the side opening ofthe shoe between the flaps b d convex, as shown in Fig". 2. By thismeans I am enabled to preserve the line of the lower part of the upper Bof the shoe, as in Fig. 1, and am also enabled to provide a place forattaching the button 1'.

Having now described my invention, what I claim is- In a shoe, thecombination, with two side flaps, b d, having disconnected lower ends,and horizontal button-holes in one of said flaps to engage buttons onthe other, of the button '0' on the shoe proper, and of averticalbuttonhole, j, in one of the flaps to engage said button t, asspecified.

CHARLES H. PEARSALL. Vitnesses:

HARRY M. TURK, CHAS. L. RUssELL.

